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This section was my workspace for philosophy essays between July 2006 and April 2008.
I call this "Prehistoric Kilroy" because it gave me practice for more
disciplined essays in Kilroy Cafe.Also see my philophical blog and Twitter feed.

Issue #52, 12/22/2006

High Contrast

By Glenn CampbellFamily Court Philosopher

A high-contrast photo, both visually
(clear separation between subject and background)
and in the emotions of the subject (the melodramatic facial expression).
[Escondido Renaissance
Faire]

The best photographic and artistic advice I ever received came from the
bi-monthly magazine of the Nevada Bar Association. On one of
the front pages, the editors said that they were looking for
high contrast photographs taken by Nevada lawyers to publish
in the magazine. That phase, "high contrast," has stuck in
my mind and influenced every photograph I have taken ever
since.

In photography, high contrast might refer to a subject that
stands out clearly from the background. It can also refer to
an idea that stands out clearly from the background.
Something about the lighting, color, cropping or composition
makes the subject jump out at you. High-contrast isn't
subtle; it is glaring and obvious. After you have achieved
high contrast and drawn out your subject, then you can work
on subtlety.

Your typical family photograph of a baby sitting on
someone's lap in the living room is low contrast. The photo
may mean a lot to you, but to others it is usually bland
and uninteresting. A high contrast photo is baby sitting in
her highchair absolutely covered with orange spaghetti with
a look of total joy on her face.

Most of the photographer's art is finding and isolating
these high contrast scenes. Most of what enters you eyeball
doesn't fit the criteria, no matter how meaningful it may be
to you at the time. If you develop an eye for high-contrast,
then you begin to see the world differently. Many important
events don't photograph well, while some of the most mundane
things make fantastic photos. High contrast is a whole
different sensory mode, which can symbolize real life
but doesn't necessarily match it.

"Pictures don't lie," the saying goes. Well, they do lie.
The high contrast scene that draws the photographer's
attention may have nothing to do with what is really
happening. For example, you could be photographing people
at a funeral. If you take hundreds of photos (as I usually
do), you are eventually going to catch someone smiling,
laughing or showing some other feeling that doesn't really
match their overall sentiments. It may turn out later that
this is the best shot of the bunch, even if it is totally
unfaithful to the original event. Life seen at 1/200th of a
second not necessarily the same as life at 5 seconds.

Good photography is an artificial art form like painting or
music. It is an expression of the artist and his available
materials more than a reflection of real life. In a way, the
photographer is committing a kind of fraud. He walks into a
very complex scene, like a holiday festival, but focuses on
only a few high-contrast details that may or may not reflect
the whole event. The details attract his eye not
necessarily because they are true to life but because they
have the right visual elements.

A festival participant later sees the photo, and the
photo replaces in memory what he actually experienced at the
event. Viola, the fraud has been committed! The photographer
has thereby co-opted the event, turning it into something
different than it was.

High contrast and an element of fakery are essential
elements not just of photography but of any artform:
writing, music, movies, even public speaking. You want to
draw the subject out from the background, and you are
seeking a symbolic representation of life, not a literal
one.

To make a movie, you could simply go to a holiday festival
and let the camera run for two hours. No matter how
entertaining the festival was at the time, the movie would
be boring. A real movie is going to focus on a rapid series
high contrast events: car chases, explosions, a laser fight
between good and evil, or love at the moment it changes.

Even if you are filming a subtle love story rather than a
James Bond thriller, you will stage high contrast events
to draw out the subtleties of the characters' feelings.
A good film is not a literal representation of real life.
No real events could ever turn out the way they did on the
screen. Instead, a movie is a high contrast symbolic
representation of life. Hopefully, it teaches you something
about life, but it isn't an accurate literal record of
anything.

In writing you want to do the same. Whatever concept you
want to express, you need to find a high contrast metaphor
for it. For example, the funeral example above is high
contrast metaphor. I wanted to express something—that
photos can be inaccurate—and I seached for the highest
contrast metaphor I could think of: laughing at a funeral.

The best popular songs have a high contrast phrase, like
"riders on the storm," coupled with high contrast music.
Both of them symbolize something, but in the best songs,
what they symbolize isn't entirely clear. Since the 1960s,
the best songs have been ones that combine high contrast
with haunting ambiguity. Take "Hotel California," by the
Eagles. It is a memorable song fill with high contrast
imagery, but what the hell does it mean? Every time you hear
it, you are trying to figure it out, which is exactly why it
has stood the test of time.

Once you have high contrast, then you have captured your
audience's attention and you can start working on the
subtleties and ambiguities of your message.
High contrast—like constant car
chases or explosions—will attract immediate attention,
but it won't sustain interest over time. It is just the
first step in any artistic process. You have to isolate the
subject and grab the attention of the audience. Beyond
that point, a more subtle set of skills are required. Now,
you must try to use symbolism to achieve something,
hopefully for the good of mankind and not to its detriment.